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My new year started out with some of Idaho’s gorgeous scenery! I am definitely ready to make spending time in the beautiful mountains a priority this year.

With the temperature hovering around 1 degree, the frost from the hotsprings created some incredible designs on the rocks and fawna.

Two of my passions; mountains and quilting bring me such Joy! Life should be about Joy! We seem to get caught up on all the little stuff that really is insignificant in the whole scope of life.

I have made resolutions in the past to try and work on goals for the new year, but this year I have no resolutions. I hope to start each day with intent, to enjoy my passions, to be so thankful for my abundance in life, and for all the Joy I feel!

This is one of the stunning quilts I quilted before Christmas. It was so stunning that the picture does not do it justice. The close up of the quilting was a bit difficult to see but hopefully you can get an idea of it.

The following quilt was made by a 96 year old! I hope I am still enjoying my passion at 96!

I also worked on a great tshirt quilt!

An antique quilt made by a 92 year old was also on my frame. Speak of Joy and passion!

Check out Idaho Sew and Vac in Boise for their upcoming classes. I will be teaching a beginning class. So if you want to learn the basics, this is a class for you. I will also be teaching an intermediate quilting class so you can expand your quilting skills.

Two different block of the month classes will be offered and a stash buster mystery series so you can use up some of your fabric collection.

I love teaching and connecting with you, so look forward to some great time in the classroom! It is always good to learn and enjoy your time doing what you like.

Do not wait until the last minute to get on my quilting schedule. I fill up fast and then there is a longer wait time for you to get your pieces quilted.

Remember, life is a Joy! Embrace it! Live with intention! It is much better than the alternative.

I am surprised at how fast time flies. I have spent time since I last wrote, quilting, gardening, yard work, canning, and dehydrating produce. These are all things I enjoy very much.

Tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, beans, and herbs filled my garden this year and also filled my pantry. The freezing, canning, and dehydrating was so fulfilling. My freezer and pantry are definitely ready for a winter of good produce.

As I have said previously, quilting is in my blood. I love the feel of fabric! I love putting colors together to create a piece. I love looking at patterns and choosing my next project. I love browsing books and magazines for ideas on quilting. I love going to quilt shops, seeing all the quilts on display, seeing the rows and rows of gorgeous fabrics, and seeing all the new patterns and ideas. I love teaching quilt classes and getting to connect with awesome quilters in my classes.

I was teaching classes at Cindy’s Quilt Shop in Caldwell until the first of November. Cindy decided it was time to retire so she has closed her shop. I am very happy for her, but that meant I would need to teach classes elsewhere.

I am excited to announce that I will be teaching classes at Idaho Sew and Vac on Overland Road, starting in January. It is too difficult to try and teach when we are all very busy with the upcoming holidays. I will be posting the available classes and times when we get close to January. Hope to see you!

So, during this time, take whatever minutes you can squeeze into your days to quilt just for you. The holidays can be so stressful at times, a few minutes sewing and quilting can give you a renewed sense of peace; at least it does for me!

If you are looking for fabric for those holiday projects, Idaho Sew and Vac is adding lots of new fabric in the store. It is exciting to have another place to find great quilting fabrics. Each store has its own flavor so that gives us many choices as we look for that perfect fabric.

Here are a couple of client quilts I have completed during this last month. I love having the variety of quilts to quilt. It is such a creative process for me. Enjoy! (Just a little side note, I really am going to try to do better photographs this year).

Whew! I have been busy! Thanksgiving is now past and into the hustle, bustle of December.

I am booked with quilting from now to the middle of January. If you would like to have me put you on the schedule for a certain month, let me know and I will add a slot for you during that month. I will notify you that your slot time is approaching so you can be ready with your quilt top and backing. Now is the time to schedule to insure you have a a secured spot for quilting. You can always call me when you have something to be quilted and I will get you into the schedule as I have always done in the past, but sometimes I am booked pretty far out.

It is leaf season at my house once again! It is always nice to know I can count on bags and bags of leaves every year. Raking in the cold, fresh air is a wonderful way to spend a few days each fall. The colors of the fall leaves on the trees has been spectacular this year. Being able to have such a beautiful fall this year has been a great treat. I always want to find fabric of the same colors of the fall leaves. The richness of the reds, yellows, and golds always adds to my ideas for quilts.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I am reminded of all I truly have to be thankful. I try to be kind, generous, and thankful each and every day. Thanksgiving provides us the time with friends and family during our busy lives. Spend more time enjoying this special time with everyone and less time stressed about your to do list. It is memories of time spent that we carry.

I am not sure where this last year has gone, but it flew by too quickly! Seems as though the years get shorter and shorter as each one passes. For me, it means I need to spend more time each day paying attention to the greatness in my life.

I am so blessed to have the friends and family that I do! Not many can say how loved they feel by those around them! I definitely feel loved!

When my daughter was married, she and her now husband picked out fabric to be made into cloth napkins for the dinner at their wedding. After the wedding, I gathered the napkins, washed them, and used them to make a wedding quilt for her and her husband. The backing of the quilt was made of fabric squares their guests signed and decorated. Quotes, hopes and wishes for the couple were also added to the squares. This was the “guestbook” at their wedding. It took me far longer to make their quilt than I wanted, but I was able to finally hand deliver it to them.

Here are a couple of the closeups of the custom quilting:

Here are are a couple close up pictures of the back of the quilt:

My darling daughter is snuggled under the quilt:

I was also finally able to finish a t-shirt quilt for my son. These are from t-shirts he gave me several years ago. (Don’t want to rush through projects!)

I am looking at new directions for 2018. It is time for a bit of a change for me and my business. I have been looking at a variety of ideas and am not certain which ones I will adopt this coming year, as yet. I know I need to change some things so I stay fresh, excited, motivated, and creative during this next year.

I am still going to be longarm quilting for clients, as I really enjoy this part of my business. I also know that it is important for me to have a short turn around for my clients as well. I hope each of you contact me in the next few weeks to secure a time in the calendar for this next year. I will still fit you in when possible. Please let me know if you would like a spot for the month of February.

I have had such a busy fall. I have been working on outside projects, trying to get ready for winter. Seems like I have been blessed with good weather to get a lot accomplished.

I have a small orchard (actually had) on the side of my house. I have taken out all but one apple tree. I have removed the raspberry and blueberry bushes. I also had a raised bed that was my herb garden that I removed as well. It is so shaded now as the neighbor’s oak tree has grown more and more each year.

I also moved all my gardening items from a small shed and sold the shed. I removed rocks and smoothed out the ground, so the orchard is cleaned up and ready for winter.

I cleaned and stained the deck, fixed outside lights, fixed screens, strung speaker wires and mounted speakers on the deck.

I moved my greenhouse and redid the front landscaping so I could plant garlic, iris, and tulip bulbs. I pulled all my tomato plants from the pots in the front.

I split and stacked 3 1/2 cords of wood. Thank goodness I had help as it was a huge job this year for me. I am ready for nice, warm heat in the wood stove this winter.

I have started the leaf raking but both of my huge trees still are holding bags of leaves waiting to fall. I will probably be raking through November.

A sewing cottage has also been under construction. It is taking forever. I certainly hope it is finished before the snow flies. I will share pictures of the sewing cottage next post.

At the same time of getting all these projects completed, I have been doing quite a few projects for clients.

This great embroidered quilt was very fun to quilt. I enjoyed being able to enhance it with several patterns. I always strive to enhance rather than overtake a quilt. If a client spends time and money making the quilt top, it should still be their quilt you admire. But I always enjoy the creative process of longarm quilting.

I have completed several Tshirt quilts since I last posted. It is always great to see all the different logos on Tshirts that you collected from activities you or your relatives have been involved.

I am booked through the end of December with quilting and Tshirt quilts. If you are interested in securing a spot on my calendar between January and June, send me an email at CrystalVisionQuilting@q.com and I will place you on my calendar. An example would be you would like a spot in April, so email me that is the time you would like. I would place you on the calendar then, remind you two weeks before your time, and try to complete your quilt in a two week turn around time. This has worked well for clients this last year so would like to do this again for 2018.

Wow, can you believe 2017 is rapidly approaching the end? It is definitely flying by!

Until next time, enjoy your family! Be thankful for your friends! Quilt as much as possible and always

I have been sew busy quilting that I have not posted in a while. The saying “the hurrier I go, the behinder I get” seems to match my summer. I have been very focused on getting quilting pieces completed for my clients but sometimes it seems that I am not making progress. It is always nice to look back at some of the quilts I have completed. Enjoy the show!

Here are a couple of the details from the darling snowman quilt.

This wall hanging was commissioned using antique appliqué blocks. The detail pictures below show how nicely it turned out.

This blue and white quilt was one of my favorite client pieces this summer.

I made this Levi quilt for a repeat client. I like to work with the varied shades from the Levi pants.

I loved the colors and movement this piece presented.

I have been able to be very creative this summer with my quilting. It helps to have great pieces to work with each day.

A little flower garden to “grow” is always a visual treat.

This was my Valentines For Aids auction piece this year.

Loved being able to be very inspired with this great quilt.

Here is the quilting on the back side of the quilt.

This cute snowman quilt just made me smile.

This quilt was very large and took a bit of time to finish.

Having a small piece made me think I was catching up on my client quilts.

My dear friend and I each did this embroidery piece to learn how to use our machines. She finished hers and I quilted it. Mine is not finished yet.

The following pieces continued to keep me busy this summer as I quilted, quilted, and quilted some more.

I also managed to make and quilt this commissioned Double Wedding Ring quilt. It took hours and hours to piece and then the quilting was not a fast work either.

I am still trying to stay focused and get these client quilts finished before the Holidays hit! Anyway, I had better get back to work. I hope you enjoyed the mini quilt show! Stay turned for more to come.